Queensland has made two key changes to safety laws to help manage psychosocial risks to workers.
First, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must identify and manage psychosocial risks associated with work, as part of the general duty under work health and safety laws. This change reflects amendments being made around much of the country.
Second, under changes unique to Queensland:
Positive obligation to identify and manage psychosocial risks
Changes to the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) (Qld WHS Regs) from 1 September 2024:
These changes are consistent with Safe Work Australia's 2024 release of a National Model Code of Practice concerning sexual and gender-based harassment, which has already been adopted in NSW.
The changes from 1 March 2025 will add to those requirements, as we address below.
The statutory definitions of 'psychosocial hazard', 'psychosocial risk', 'sexual harassment', and 'sex or gender-based harassment' are important but lengthy, so we summarise them at the end of this post.
To comply with the duty under the Qld WHS Regs to manage psychosocial risks, a PCBU must 'have regard to all relevant matters' including a long list of things such as:
The scope is wide enough to encompass the way/s (or how) an employer manages psychosocial risks that arise from, or are associated with, its chosen method of performance management or disciplinary action.
Proactive management of risks – identifying risks and appropriate control measures and reviewing their efficacy
Reinforcing that these are psychosocial hazards that must be managed proactively, the Qld WHS Regs require a PCBU to identify, and to implement appropriate control measures to address, the psychosocial risks associated with sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment at work.
The starting point is to identify psychosocial risks that may arise from sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment at work, and what preventative or control measures may be appropriate to help manage the risk that the conduct occurs in the first place.
In choosing what control measures to put in place to manage these psychosocial risks, the PCBU must 'have regard to all relevant matters in relation to the risk of sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment, including':
Those familiar with the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) and the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) will no doubt recognise that these sorts of matters are commonly considered in the context of claims of unlawful discrimination and harassment.
The aim of these changes is to encourage or require a shift from reacting to claims, and reliance on individuals making claims before acting or introducing any change, to a systems-based, proactive approach to managing identifiable risks to the wellbeing of workers, and acting before a complaint (if any) is made.
The 1 March 2025 requirements to document, review the efficacy of, and revise, the selected control measures in Queensland, to help the PCBU remain proactive, is consistent with this approach.
Preventative plan requirements
If, in the course of meeting its duty to identify psychosocial risks, a PCBU in Queensland identifies a risk associated with the risk of sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment, from 1 March 2025 that PCBU must prepare and implement a prevention plan.
A prevention plan must:
A PCBU must take reasonable steps to ensure that all workers are aware of the prevention plan and how to access it, and must review the plan:
What to do now
To understand whether it needs to have a prevention plan in place by 1 March 2025, every PCBU in Queensland will need to consider its psychosocial risks and, in particular, whether it needs to address any psychosocial risks associated with sexual harassment at work or from sex or gender-based harassment at work.
Prudent PCBUs will consider these matters now, before the 1 March 2025 deadline passes.
For help meeting these positive proactive duties, please contact our Employment, Workplace Relations and Safety Team.
Author
Andrew Cardell-Ree | Partner | +61 7 3338 7926 | acardellree@tglaw.com.au
Andrew would like to thank Gemma Grattan, Summer Clerk, for her assistance with this Insight.